Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Fairbanks, Douglas

(Encyclopedia)Fairbanks, Douglas, 1883–1939, American movie actor, b. Denver. From 1901 to 1914, Fairbanks appeared on stage in light comedies. In 1915 he began making movies, becoming the swashbuckling hero of h...

Douglas, Archibald, 6th earl of Angus

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, Archibald, 6th earl of Angus, 1489–1557, Scottish nobleman; grandson of Archibald Douglas, 5th earl of Douglas. His marriage (1514) to Margaret Tudor alienated the Scottish noblemen and cau...

Handlin, Oscar

(Encyclopedia)Handlin, Oscar, 1915–2011, American historian, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Brooklyn College (B.A., 1934). He received his Ph.D (1940) from Harvard and taught there from 1939 to 1984. Most of his work i...

Helsingør

(Encyclopedia)Helsingør ĕlˈsĭnôrˌ [key], city, Frederiksborg co., E Denmark, on the Øresund opposite ...

Staunton

(Encyclopedia)Staunton stănˈtən [key], city (1990 pop. 24,461), seat of Augusta co., W central Va., in the Shenandoah Valley; settled 1732, inc. as a city 1871. It is a trade and industrial center in a fertile f...

Buchanan, George

(Encyclopedia)Buchanan, George, 1506–82, Scottish humanist. Educated at St. Andrews and Paris, he became (1536) tutor to James V's illegitimate son James Stuart (later earl of Murray). He was imprisoned (1539) fo...

Bethany, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Bethany bĕthˈənē [key]. 1 Village, at the southeastern foot of the Mount of Olives, the modern El Aziriye, 2 mi (3.2 km) E of Jerusalem. In the Gospels, it is the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary...

Northampton, Henry Howard, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Northampton, Henry Howard, earl of nôrthămpˈtən [key], 1540–1614, English courtier; son of the poet, Henry Howard, earl of Surrey; member of the powerful Howard family. His public career under E...

Mudd, Samuel Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Mudd, Samuel Alexander, 1833–83, Maryland physician and Confederate sympathizer who on April 15, 1865, set the broken left leg of Lincoln's fleeing assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Mudd was accused of a...

Lathrop, Rose Hawthorne

(Encyclopedia)Lathrop, Rose Hawthorne, 1851–1926, American nun, philanthropist, and writer; youngest daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne. In 1871 she married George Parsons Lathrop. In 1891 she and her husband embrac...

Browse by Subject